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Loughborough graded ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted for teacher training

Loughborough University’s teacher training has been graded as ‘outstanding’ – the best possible category – by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted).

The government watchdog found Teacher Education at Loughborough to be of the highest standard, awarding it top marks for: overall effectiveness, outcomes for trainees, the quality of training across the partnership and the quality of leadership and management across the partnership.

The University has a strong tradition of teacher education and a history of successfully producing teachers, who are in great demand by schools and colleges in the UK and overseas.

Loughborough trains around 70 secondary school teachers a year through its PGCE (Post-Graduate Certificate in Education) courses in Physical Education and Mathematics.

The PGCE provides practical professional preparation for teaching in secondary schools across the 11-18 age range and is designed and delivered in partnership with around 70 schools in more than 10 surrounding Local Authorities.

The Ofsted report notes the “outstanding leadership has secured trainees’ outstanding outcomes” and “attainment and employment rates are consistently above national averages”.

It also states: “programme leaders are effective in contributing to the development of educational theory in PE and mathematics, both nationally and internationally, and in creating opportunities for trainees and NQTs [newly-qualified teachers] to engage in this work.”

Commenting on the outstanding grading, Dr Jo Harris, Director of Teacher Education at Loughborough, said: “I am delighted that our teacher training programmes have been recognised as extremely high quality.

“This is the fourth consecutive Ofsted inspection of ‘outstanding’ during my time as Director of Teacher Education and is a testament to our sustained commitment, drive and passion to developing the best teachers possible.”

The full Ofsted report can be found here. Further information on Teacher Education at Loughborough can be found on the dedicated webpage.